Costs, Scholarships & Financial Aid

We will work with you to identify an off-campus study option that fits your needs - and your budget.
Check out the scholarships available for off-campus study!

Cost

The cost of off-campus study varies by program. You can find a cost estimate sheet outlining an estimate of the tuition, program fees, room and board, and other costs associated with the program (e.g. passport fees and airfare) on the Browse Programs page. If you have any questions about the cost estimates, please contact the Off-Campus Study office in the CSO.

Fee Structure
You will be assessed tuition, room and board, and all other costs associated with the program of your choice, as well as a $490 administrative fee. The cost estimate for your program will indicate which costs will be billed through Alma College and appear on your student account (usually tuition, as well as room and board when those are provided by the program), and what costs you should expect to pay directly while you are off-campus (e.g. airfare).

Any external aid, including state and federal aid or external (non-Alma) scholarships, may be used for off-campus study. For the purposes of state and federal financial aid, you will continue to be enrolled as a full-time student at Alma while you are off-campus on an approved program. Alma College scholarships and grants (including tuition exchange) may only be applied if the off-campus study program is a requirement for the completion of your degree program (e.g. if you are a declared Modern Language major) - see below for details.

A Note to Language Majors:

If you have declared a major in Modern Languages and you are planning to study off-campus to fulfill your program’s off-campus study requirement, you may opt to either:

Pay Alma College tuition for your semester abroad and apply any Alma College scholarships and grants, or

Pay the tuition of the program of your choice, without applying Alma College scholarships and grants

External funding, including state and federal financial aid, may be applied to off-campus study in either case.

Room and Board Fees for Off-Campus Study

For most programs, room and board fees are billed through Alma College and will appear on your student account in place of your Alma College room and board. Some programs do not include room and/or board in their fees billed to Alma College. For example, the Philadelphia Center assists with finding housing, but students pay the property owner directly for rent, and buy and prepare meals on their own or with their roommates. Another example is the University of Otago, New Zealand, where housing choices are on-campus (where Alma College would be invoiced for room), or private flats (where students pay the landlord directly for their rent). In these situations, the approximate cost of the room and board is figured in to the student’s financial aid packet, and the Student Financial Assistance staff advises students if and how they can expect to receive their financial aid money to pay their room and board.

Budgeting for Off-Campus Study

The Financial Counselor in the Center for Student Opportunity can help you plan and budget for your off-campus study experience. Make an appointment when you first start considering off-campus study.

When you begin the Registration/Application process for off-campus study, you will be sent a Financial Planning Worksheet/Cost Estimate for the program you selected. Submit this cost estimate to the Financial Aid Office to find out what financial aid you can expect to use toward the off-campus study program. If you have any questions about your financial aid, you may discuss them with the Financial Aid Office and/or Off-Campus Study at that time.

Scholarships

You can search for external scholarships for off-campus study. Search by geographic region or by academic discipline.

Scholarships offered by Alma College which can be applied to off-campus study include: